The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) recently released the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for 2022. The report assesses multidimensional poverty, identifying severe poverty among 1.2 billion people worldwide with almost half of them being children under 18 years old. Majority of these impoverished individuals reside in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Global Data
The report identified Sub Saharan Africa as housing the highest number of poor people (579 million), followed by South Asia (385 million). Together, these two regions are home to 83% of the world’s poor population. However, it must be noted that this data does not account for the changes brought about after the global pandemic.
Impact of Pandemic on Global Poverty
According to the UNDP-OPHI report, the Covid-19 pandemic could set back the progress made in poverty reduction globally by 3-10 years. The World Food Programme suggests that the number of people living in food crises or worse increased to 193 million in 2021 due to the pandemic.
India and the MPI: Key Findings
As per the index, India holds the largest number of poor people worldwide, measuring at 22.8 crore, followed by Nigeria with 9.6 crore. In India, two-thirds of these individuals live in households where at least one person is deprived of nutrition.
Reduction in Poverty in India
The incidence of poverty in India exhibited a significant fall from 55.1% in 2005/06 to 16.4% in 2019/21. This decline is attributed to the reductions in all 10 MPI indicators resulting in the MPI value and the incidence of poverty being halved during this period. An estimated 41.5 crore people moved out of poverty in India between 2005-06 and 2019-21, significantly contributing to the decline in poverty in South Asia.
Relative Reduction in Poverty: A Comparison
Comparing the periods from 2015/2016 to 2019/21 and 2005/2006 to 2015/2016, the former witnessed a faster relative reduction of poverty at 11.9% per year as compared to the 8.1% per year in the latter period. In absolute terms, Bihar, being the poorest state in 2015-16, saw the fastest decrease in MPI value. However, in relative terms, it along with nine other poor states except West Bengal, still remains among the ten poorest.
Poverty among Indian Children
Despite a faster fall in absolute terms, India still houses the maximum number of poor children in the world. Over one in five children in India are poor in comparison to around one in seven adults.
Regional Differences in Poverty Reduction in India
Regarding regional differences, rural areas saw the incidence of poverty decrease from 36.6% in 2015-2016 to 21.2% in 2019-2021. Urban areas also showed an improvement with poverty reducing from 9.0% to 5.5%.
About the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
The MPI, first launched in 2010 by OPHI and the UNDP, provides a critical international resource for measuring acute multidimensional poverty across developing countries. This index focuses on health, education, and standard of living through 10 indicators to evaluate both the incidence and intensity of poverty.
MPI Indicators and Dimensions
The MPI considers a person as multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in one third or more of the weighted indicators out of the total ten. Those deprived in half or more of the weighted indicators are classified as living in extreme multidimensional poverty.
Infographic UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question (PYQ)
Previous year questions from the UPSC Civil Services Examination regarding the Multidimensional Poverty Index show that it primarily focuses on the deprivation of education, health, and assets and services at the household level.